


An Auror Prepper Error

by BleepBloopBotz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining Harry, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29238315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleepBloopBotz/pseuds/BleepBloopBotz
Summary: Harry and Ron have graduated Hogwarts and are now training to be Aurors at the Ministry. But when an incident involving cursed Muggle items radically changes the way Harry views his best mate, a place amongst Wizarding Britain's finest may not be the only thing he's looking to achieve.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 46
Kudos: 60





	1. Cuckoo Clock of Doom

Harry Potter hated going into work.

Not that it was the job itself, being an Auror (or at least one in training) had been all he had ever wanted since he was twelve years old and hearing the now legendary story of Igor Karakoff's last stand unfold in real time on the Wizarding Wireless. To be apart of the group of people who had finally taken down slimy gits like him was a highly tempting prospect.

But good GOD, the Ministry atrium was a bloody nightmare to traverse through, with obstacles ranging from stern DOT officials having very serious and important conversations that seemed to necessitate the usage of entire hallways to bloody tour groups of all the things.

Harry was at least thankful for the recent cold weather giving him the excuse to wear a woolly hat (courtesy of Molly Weasley) pushed down as far as possible to cover his scar and avoid being held up even further.

It was always with a sense of relief that Harry finally reached the lifts that would take him even deeper underground to the Auror training facility where he had been coming every day for the past five months (even on Christmas) and would do so for the better part of three years.

As Harry squeezed himself into the crowded compartment, he remembered as a child having envisioned the training facility as sleek and shining, perhaps with a giant map of the world with red dots marking recent Dark wizard activity. 

It was a bit shite in all honesty really, dark and dingy corridors that would have made the Hogwarts dungeons seem like five star hotels, with doors that led into cramped rooms where the student Aurors would be assigned some ludicrously boring task to fill out the day.

They were the stuff of a detention from Snape. Combing through decades old witness statements (to find what Moody barkingly declared "The.Smallest.Contradiction"), doing thorough sweeps of the venues of such high profile events as the monthly meeting for the Hogsmeade Society Of Ancient Runes and scouring through boxes of rubbish left over from a recent raid conducted by the actual Aurors.

Harry looked at the notice board on the damp wall and saw with a groan that he had copped the latter assignment today. At least he would be sharing it with Ron. So it wouldn't be a total waste of the effort of finding his will to live that morning.

The room they had been assigned to was at the very end of the corridor. It had a low ceiling and peeling wallpaper. All the "potentially dark artefacts" left over from a raid on a prolific Muggle baiter were spread out on the dilapidated table in the centre of the room. Ron was already there, vigorously tearing apart some Christmas tinsel that seemed to have a mind of it's own. 

"Hey mate."

Ron mumbled his own greetings as he triumphed over his foe, ripping it apart before chucking it's remains into a box in the corner before letting out a sigh.

"Get comfy mate, bloody loads left."

Harry sat on the stool, silently praying there would be no splinters on his arse when he got up. The rest of the hour was passed by doing as much of the job as quickly as possible while gossiping at a level that would have made Lavender Brown blush.

Ron had details on every sordid affair their former classmates were currently engaged in. 

"Davies reckons he's finally found The One. I'll give it a month."

"Padma's dad all but caught her in her room with Michael and Justin. They had to shimmy out the window and run away in just their pants."

"Seamus is signing as a reserve with Wimbourne. Proper licking himself over it."

Bants with Ron were enjoyable as a Hogwarts student but now that Harry was experiencing the doldrums of adult life (Ron was living in a flat with Neville and Dean. Harry had to split rent with bloody Ernie MacMillan.) they became better than water.

Harry really couldn't imagine a world without Ron as his best mate, from the moment they had bumped into each other on the Express all those years ago, the two had grown from dumb, gormless kids to blokes that could almost be described as fanciable.

They had done everything together; Quidditch Cup six years in a row, cheering on Cedric to his Triwizard victory, playing pranks on Malfoy and his goons....nursing each other's egos after Hermione and Ginny had dumped them in favour of each other.....

Harry had never gone back to his uncle and aunt after his second year. His holidays were spent at the Burrow (he had even been given Charlie's old room). He and Ron degnomed the garden, played Quidditch and tried their luck with the girls in the Muggle village. Ron had been more successful by a factor of one and rubbed it in Harry's face for over a month.

Harry and Ron. Best mates forever.

"Fucking hell !"

Harry was torn out of his memories by Ron's abrupt yell. Yet more rubbish had dropped down on the table in front, out of a chute in the ceiling that disappeared as soon as it had materialized.

"Even more work." groaned Harry.

"Come on mate. Let's just do it so, we can get outta 'ere." said Ron, reaching for a cuckoo clock at the same time as Harry. As soon as they had laid hands on the thing, the clock sprang into life prompting rather unmanly gasps from the two. 

A grotesque looking yellow cuckoo bird sprang out of the clock letting loose a "TWWEEEEETTTTTTT" that would haunt Harry's dreams. Then, the clock exploded into a cloud of yellow gas that immediately engulfed the room. It could have all gone a bit better honestly.

Harry's eyes stung as a noxious smell wafted into his nose and launched a guerrilla attack on his senses. He felt like being sick. The already damp room had suddenly gotten even colder. He heard Ron scramble for his wand on the table and quickly cast the Gas Dispelling Charm.

As the gas began to dissipate, Harry was able to see what was in front of him and his brain promptly broke.

Ronald Billius Weasley, his best mate, (hopefully) future Auror partner and brother in all but name stood in front of him panting like a dog. Totally naked.

Cursing his eyes, Harry took in the whole of Ron. He had always been tall and was lanky in his early years at Hogwarts but becoming Keeper after Oliver's graduation had caused him to fill out with muscle and become "quite fanciable." Harry had a flash of a fantasy involving the two of them and the upstairs bedroom of Grimmauld Place which horrified him to no end.

Ron had strong arms and biceps, two well-rounded pecs and some bloody firm abs all adorned with freckles, Harry could see why Lavender had made it her mission to be his girlfriend for the majority of two years. Not that he felt like that towards Ron, Harry thought quickly.

Harry also registered his own state of nudity. He conversely had always had a lean and lithe build, perfect for a Seeker. Ron then copped onto the state they were in and let out a roar of shock, hands scrambling for something to cover himself with and failing miserably. 

"Thing must have been cursed." said Harry dumbfoundedly

"What was your first clue." retorted Ron crouching down to see if their clothes had somehow gone under the table. In doing so he gave Harry a bird's eye view of his calves and ...... "Wheezy". 

Harry's brain broke again.

Ron straightened up, his mission a failure and buried his head in his hands. Harry thought briefly to use the Clothing Charm but then remembered they had both skivved that class to help Katie Bell smuggle in Firewhiskey for the Gryffindor Christmas party. Damn.

Ron showed his face again, which was now redder than Harry had ever seen and drenched in sweat. He had quickly formulated a plan of action.

"We can go raid the locker room for spare uniforms." said Ron "Quick as bloody possible. If anyone sees us like this, we'll be the laughingstocks of the Corps." 

"Let's go." said Harry breathlessly.

All they had to do was get dressed and they could pretend this had never happened. Harry let himself calm down and his face lose a shade of red. It had only been the shock of the situation. He hadn't really been oogling his best mate. Obviously not.

The sight of Ron's arse as he turned to leave shattered Harry's peace of mind like a sledgehammer.

Bloody Merlin.

He fancied the shit out of his best mate.


	2. Cormac McLaggen's Very Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Ron find themselves some clothes but a certain arsehole shows up and gets a punishment he won't soon forget.

When you're eleven years old, sneaking through the Hogwarts corridors with your best mate under an invisibility cloak is fun. It's exciting.

When you're eighteen years old, sneaking through damp corridors to get to a changing room with your suddenly very attractive and starkers best mate is not fun. It's still a bit exciting however.

The two nude trainees made their way through on the tips of their toes, jumping at any noise in fear it could be someone who may spot them in a rather unflattering situation.

"Thought we'd get our arses kicked by some werewolf, not a bloody clock." muttered Ron darkly. Harry nodded numbly.

His psyche was melting. No matter how he tried to spin it in his mind, there was absolutely no way to deny that he was loving the sight of Ron sans clothing. Why couldn't he have grown up to be a rail thin Percy ? Why did he bloody have to be a Bill ?

Harry tried to think about anything other than the redhead in front of him. Quidditch. Books. Spells. Ron's arse. Dammit.

Finally, mercifully they had arrived at the changing room. Quickly ducking inside the doors, they caught their breath and began searching for a target to knick the clothes off.

While Ron went around the row of lockers, Harry plonked himself down on the thankfully warm bench and tried to gather his thoughts. Maybe all these unwanted feelings about his best mate actually would dissipate once they were dressed and back to work. As you may have guessed, this dream was about to die a horrible death.

"Oi, mate."

Harry turned his head and got a close-up of Ron with his hands on hips, giving Harry the full view of his chest and "Wheezy". Harry's brain was about to give up on him at this rate.

"I found McLaggen's locker. Gonna take his. What about you ?"

"Oh...er..right." 

Harry jerked to his feet and awkwardly stumbled over to the nearest locker which just so happened to belong to Zacharias Smith.

At least he could give that prat a bad day, thought Harry as he undid the lock with his wand before pulling out Smith's expensive looking robes. They were tight and smelled of far too strong cologne but Harry still eagerly pulled them on, desperate to put this behind him.

He went around and found Ron had already finished getting dressed, much to Harry's relief (and the disappointment of a small voice in the back of his head).

"Ready to go" asked Harry a bit too fast.

"Ye-"

"What the FUCK are you doing Weasley ! Why are you wearing my clothes !"

Harry felt his blood run cold as Cormac McLaggen appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing official robes, likely having just returned from a field exercise. His face had darkened with rage and his eyes shone with anger.

"Go away McLaggen." said Ron hotly.

"Why don't you tell me what the fuck is going on, you nasty little blood traitor." snarled McLaggen stepping towards Ron raising his fist. That was his biggest mistake.

"Stupefy !"

Harry's spell hit McLaggen right in the back of the head and he spasmed as he fell, clanking his head off the bench on the way down.

"Blimey Harry." said Ron with a grin.

Harry panted. He hadn't wanted to escalate the situation so dramatically but McLaggen had been about to hit Ron. He couldn't let that happen...

"What do we reckon we do with him ?" asked Ron prodding the unconscious git with his foot.

"I have a few ideas." said Harry also forming a grin.

McLaggen had one of the biggest bullying arseholes in Gryffindor, especially after Ron beat him out for Keeper three years in a row. They had managed to prank him on a few occasions but never enough to properly take him down a peg. Time to rectify that.

Harry quickly cast the Hovering Charm, lifting the arse into the air. He had a black eye from the bench which served him just right. Harry also summoned McLaggen's wand to him and smirked. Time for payback.

"Best he doesn't remember this." said Harry quickly using the prick's own wand to Oblivate him of the past half hour before musing to decide the best course of action.

He decided that McLaggen's sheer arseholery over the years warranted a fair bit of humiliation. He went about Vanishing his clothes leaving McLaggen in nothing but briefs sporting the Tutshill Tornadoes logo.

"Disgusting." said Ron in mock shock leaning away and covering his eyes dramatically.

"That tour group I saw earlier should be having lunch in the Atrium right about now. Wouldn't it be a right shame if Cormac here was to make a surprise appearance" said Harry with the slightest touch of evil in his voice.

"May I ?" said Ron. Harry handed him McLaggen's wand and Ron chortled as he cast his own spell. McLaggen shook violently before suddenly zooming off like a rocket, en route to the Atrium. He must have woken up halfway through as Harry heard a high pitched scream before the sounds of crashing and gasps of shock.

"Excellent !" cheered Ron before descending into hysterical laughter which made Harry's heart soar. Ron being happy made him even happier.

"Reckon we can slip out while all that's going on. Better leave before we have to do the same to Smith."

"You act like that'd be a bad thing." said Ron as the two made their way over to the lift and stepped in. Being so close to Ron made Harry's face feel hot but he managed to keep himself together as they stepped into the Atrium and hurried to the Floo stations.

McLaggen had crash-landed onto a table full of cakes and laid there dazed, covered with frosting as Moody snarled at him. A group of Daily Prophet photographers bustled over to the scene eager to have something more interesting than the day's Wizenmagort sessions to cover.

"Hope tomorrow we get assigned to witness statements." said Ron as they arrived at the Floo where the line had been drastically depleted as throngs of Ministry workers headed over to McLaggen.

"Er...yeah me too." said Harry. What was wrong with him ? Just because Ron made his heart flutter as of late doesn't mean their bants had to suffer. They didn't do anything wrong.

"See ya mate." chirped Ron before disappearing into the green flames.

"Yeah see ya.....mate." said Harry before somberly walking into his own Floo and stumbling out of the fireplace into his and Ernie's flat.

Harry fell to his knees as a thousand thoughts raced through his mind almost all to do with his best mate. It wasn't as though Harry felt differently about Ron by any means. Of course he didn't. Ron just made him feel happy, he was hilarious, a good hugger, fit as all hell, had taken Harry into his family, been with him in all the good times of his life....

Oh good God.

Harry pulled his hair. There was utterly no chance of changing his new reality.

He was in love with Ron Weasley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cormac bashing should be more common. Total prick.
> 
> Comments are very appreciated.


	3. Teddy The Terror

Turns out being in love with your best mate in the world made hanging around them just a teeny tiny bit awkward. Harry had tried his best for the past two weeks since the Great Cuckoo Clock of Sexual Awakening incident to avoid spending too much time with Ron without coming across as overly suspicious. 

It wasn't entirely his fault, his brain just couldn't stop undressing Ron whenever Harry looked at him. Life was very unfair indeed. 

The only upside to the past fortnight was watching McLaggen stalk around the Ministry snarling and trying to find who had Oblivated and pranked him with very little success. His embarrassing moment had made the front cover of over a dozen different publications with the headlines "Auror Trainee Bares All In Ill-Advised Quidditch Promotional Stunt." To add insult to injury, the Tutshill Tornadoes had put him on the blacklist from attending of their future matches in order to distance themselves from him.

Unfortunately Harry no longer had a choice when it came to avoiding Ron. Today was Fred and George's 21st birthday and a large party was being held at the Burrow, attendance of which was mandatory unless you wanted Molly Weasley to arrive at your home laden with food out of "concern for your well-being."

So, at one in the afternoon on a fine Spring day, with immense reluctance, Harry strolled up to the front gate of his adopted home. Loud laughter could be heard from inside the house as the party was in full swing. Ron had been there since the crack of dawn helping Bill and a very pregnant Fleur settle in. There was sadly no way out of this barring the rise of a new Dark Lord, thought Harry resignedly as he strolled up the path to the house.

Just before he could ring the doorbell, Harry heard a thunderous flurry of footsteps from inside as the door was quite violently swung open and Harry was pulled into a fiercely tight hug by Hermione Granger.

"Helloooo Haaaaary." trilled Hermione in a way that indicated she had had herself a few glasses of whatever beverage was going around.

"Hi, Hermione." said Harry as he enthusiastically returned the hug. A drunk Hermione was an affectionate Hermione, and she led Harry into the house whilst babbling messages of having "missed him so much" (they had talked at length yesterday) and how "it was so hard to see the boys at work lately" (Harry and Ron had been having lunch with Hermione in the Atrium every day until the Cuckoo Clock of Sexual Awakening) 

"Look who's HERE!" said Hermione, loudly presenting Harry to the assorted redheads and guests assembled in the kitchen. Neither Ron nor the birthday boys were anywhere to be seen and Harry allowed Hermione and an equally giggly Ginny to lead him around the house as his hand was shook and back slapped more times than he could count.

Charlie had eagerly shown him pictures of all the sanctuary's new baby dragons acting like a proud father at a ballet recital. Katie and Alicia were still going strong, over the moon about the Holyhead Harpies' domination of the national league (Ginny let out a whoop that sounded more like a battle cry). Cho and Cedric were both looking as infuriatingly attractive as ever, engagement rings sparkling on their fingers. 

Harry was sitting down with Fleur (whose baby bump seemed to get larger whenever he looked away from it) and Bill (hearing the man he had considered the Epitome Of Cool when he was younger, fret about child-proofing and daycare options was quite frankly an unnerving experience) when the door opened again and the sounds of several people bustling in was heard.

Harry turned his head and his stomach did cartwheels worthy of a circus as the bloke from the dream he had last Saturday that had necessitated changing his bedsheets walked in. Ron was holding Teddy Lupin in his arms as the boy's parents and the two men of the hour walked in to thunderous and mildly drunken applause.

Tonks did a mock bow before sliding over to coo over Fleur and pitch baby names that were soundly ignored as many of them were the stagenames of rockstars. Lupin nodded at Harry whose heart swelled, his favourite teacher noticing him still felt like an achievement despite being godfather of the man's son.

The twins meanwhile cracked jokes a mile a minute as they mingled with their party guests, jokingly begging Cedric not to evict their shop for complimenting his fiancée as Molly rolled her eyes although she couldn't hide her smile. Hermione and Ginny had Ron's full attention at the moment as the three of them laughed merrily as they got caught up while Ron bounced Teddy on his shoulders.

Teddy giggled as he softly tugged Ron's hair like a cowboy steering his horse. Teddy then scrunched up his face and puffed out his cheeks as slowly but surely his own hair turned red to match Ron's. Tonks did a rather un-Tonkslike squeal, conjuring up a camera with which to capture her son's Metamorphing.

Harry was quite glad for Teddy's presence - both because he loved the child with all his heart and because him being on Ron's shoulders made it quite hard for Harry to picture his mate starkers like he had been doing so much lately. 

Harry mustered his courage and proceeded to engage Percy in the dullest conversation he had ever been in. Percy talked slow and added many pointless details to his already boring stories which suited Harry just fine. Anything to avoid looking like a fool trying to talk to Ron.

Firewhiskey and butterbeer went around the room (Fleur had a jug of lemonade) and before Harry knew it the sun had started to dip and the guests began to filter out. Angelina Johnson had arrived, taking a grinning George away to show him his "birthday present", Ginny and Hermione had gone for a long romantic stroll through the nearby fields and Percy had a "highly important meeting, was lovely talking Harry but must dash." 

The remaining Weasley brothers plus Harry had grouped around the kitchen table, talking about nothing in particular. Ron and Teddy had taken a shine to each other and Teddy drowsily sat in Ron's lap as he poked at his piece of the birthday cake he had yet to eat. 

The situation was almost comforting as Bill sighed dreamily about what fatherhood would bring to him as everyone else pretended to understand completely. Fred wiggled his eyebrows at Harry as he brought up "Cormac's little misadventure".

"George and I always wanted to get that prick as good as those oh-so mysterious strangers got him. Best we could do was trick him into eating Doxy eggs."

Harry and Ron avoided eye contact with him as he laughed at their discomfort. Bill also raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"'Course 'ere's nothing to be ashamed of. Whoever pulled off such a wicked prank deserves an award if you ask me."

At the word 'prank' the gears in Teddy's little mind began to turn. He looked at the cake sitting in front of him and got a fiendish little idea.

"Well Fred ya se-" Harry was cut off as his godson threw the cake in his direction hitting him smack in the face. The table exploded with laughter as Harry assumed this was the universe's way of punishing him of what he had done to McLaggen, his face completely covered with frosting and maderia. 

Fred toppled out of his chair laughing, Charlie choked on his Firewhiskey and Bill momentarily became the Epitome of Cool again as he pounded the table in fits of laughter. Teddy looked quite chuffed with his little manoeuvre as Tonks took him from Ron, scolding half-heartedly.

Harry grumbled and reached for a table cloth but Ron leaned out of his chair.

"No need mate, I can handle this." said Ron as he began licking the cake from Harry's face, pausing only to laugh.

Harry wondered if he had died and was now in Heaven as Ron's warm tongue trailed over his face, leaving no pore unturned in it's search for frosting. Being in such a situation with the bloke he fancied filled Harry with both overwhelming joy and abject horror as he tried with all his might to keep his poker face on. He could not let himself enjoy this (at least openly).

Ron abandoned the joke halfway through as Harry's face reddened which only caused even more laughter from the brothers. Harry tried to keep casual as he wiped the rest off.

"Could have least have finished the job mate." he grumbled, only joking a small bit. He would be thinking about those precious thirty seconds for the rest of his life.

"Sorry." sniggered Ron as it turned dark outside.

"Should probably get going. Gotta head to Gringotts before they close to withdraw the Galleons for rent." lied Harry getting up from the table, saying his goodbyes and hurrying out the door, the bits of his face Ron's tongue had touched itching like hell.

"See ya at the Ministry tomorrow. We've got field duty practice with Tonks." Ron called after him.

How bloody perfect, thought Harry as he disapparated waving goodbye to Ginny and Hermione who had just returned from their stroll, lipstick smudged beyond belief.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Weasley lay in bed in the Burrow's guest room that night, the snores of his lovely wife all he could hear.

Bill has seen the way Harry had been acting all day, particularly around his youngest brother. There had always been a deep bond between the two but you'd have to be practically bloody blind when it came to such matters (Charlie) or have a very topsy turvy way of socializing (Fred) to not see how it changed.

Harry bloody Potter was head over heels for his baby brother. 

Bill smirked as he thought of an idea. You didn't get to become the most popular boy in school without learning a thing or two about relationships. Harry and Ron were both typical Gryffindors, simultaneously sharp as whips and dense as bricks. They would need a push or several but it could work.

After all, thought the Epitome Of Cool, what were big brothers for ?

With his mind made up, the Epitome of Cool went back into hibernation as Bill turned his mind to the topic of healthy baby food.


	4. Chivalrous Colin

Hogsmeade. What was once a place where Harry and his fellow wide-eyed thirteen year olds spent their weekends blissfully running from shop to shop was now the location of yet another tedious Auror training mission. They were to "patrol" the streets and keep an eye out for any potential "activity". 

The sun was beating down and sweat was running down Harry's forehead. Mercifully, he had not been assigned Ron as a partner. Instead he was to perform this ardous mission with Susan Bones. It was a boon for Harry. Bones was not a conversationalist but she had an aura of intimidation that made him feel like he ought to be totally focused on the task at hand. No time for any stray thoughts pertaining to a certain redhead.

The pair had spent the better part of the past hour walking through the town square. They made notes of terrible crimes ranging from a dispute over change in Honeydukes to a group of children who were poking a sleeping Kneazle with a stick. People bustled everywhere, loudly talking about whatever business they had like there was an audience. Harry never understood why wizards had to be so dramatic about everything they did, the irony of thinking this following the past few weeks utterly lost on him.

"Sooooo, are you doing anything later?" asked Harry.

"No." said Bones bluntly, not looking up from her notepad. 

Harry sighed before he caught sight of two people moving towards them. The young woman with the turquoise sundress and tartan hat could have been no-one else but Luna Lovegood. She held a shopping list. It was six feet long and trailed behind her, occasionally tripping a passer-by. Next to her, his muscular arms laden with merchandise from shops already visited was a young man whose face was obscured by the bags and boxes he was holding in a precarious pile.

Luna immediately noticed Harry and gave an enthusiastic wave, skipping over with her companion stumbling behind, not knowing what the sudden rush was about. Up close, Luna’s eyes sparkled through hot pink sunglasses that clashed terribly with her hat.

"Hello Harry. Hello Susan." chirped Luna. Harry returned the greeting while Bones gave Luna the same look one would give a newly discovered breed of dog. "We've been picking up some things for the paper. Colin has been such an immense help." 

With that, Luna's helper carefully set down what he was holding, revealing none other than Colin Creevey. At least, Harry was pretty sure it was the same Colin. The last time he had seen him, Colin had been a slim and baby-faced sixteen year old. This iteration was tall, broad-shouldered and had one of the squarest jaws Harry had ever seen. 

Instead of Colin's usual mile-a-minute yammering, the man in front of them merely gave a nod of greeting. The idea of Colin Creevey being suave was an odd one to say the least. 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see a goblin about a printing press." said Luna, bouncing off before anyone could process what she had said, leaving Harry with only Bones and Colin.

"So, er, you're looking well Colin." said Harry awkwardly. The Kneazle had woken up and was chasing the children who had bothering it, their shrill screams echoing as they ran.

"Oh you really think so? " cheered Colin with a bright grin and shining eyes. Evidently he hadn't changed that much after all. Bones sniggered. Colin took notice of himself and coughed several times before speaking again, his voice intentionally lowered.

"Oh, you see I took up a Beater position in 7th year, really made a new man out of me. And after school, I've been doing odd jobs here and there - fixing up the Lovegoods' shed, fixing up the Lovegoods' weather vane, fixing up the Lovegoods'-"

"So are you and her a thing? " asked Bones, looking mildly exasperated.

Colin's face turned as red as an overcooked lobster as he began stammering and wringing his hands.

"Well, you see, uh, not exactly, I have spent the night with her a few times, er, on the sofa I mean, not like in the same bed, but we are pretty close, she sent me a birthday card last June, er, uh, um."

Colin's suffering was only relieved when Luna returned and his face immediately snapped back into suave mode. Luna peered at him with a quizzical look.

"You're looking a bit flushed, Colin. Have you been trying the herbal bath regime I suggested? " 

"Every night." squeaked Colin, clearing his throat and trying to look as cool as possible.

"No need to overdo it." said Luna with a look of alarm. "Come on, I need you to help move this." 

As Luna and her admirer left, Harry and Bones ducked into a side-street and collapsed into spasms of laughter.

"He wants to get in her pants so bloody much." cackled Bones, looking the most humanlike she had been all day.

"I know." answered Harry, having dropped to his knees.

"I wish him all the luck honestly." said a voice in a broad Sheffield accent. Harry turned and his heart skipped a beat.

Ron was standing there, looking infuriatingly attractive in the sunlight, next to him was Michael Corner- his partner for the exercise.

"If he's putting in all that work, he deserves the prize." continued Michael, running his fingers through his long, dark ponytail. 

"You two ready for debriefing?" asked Ron with a grin. 

Harry nodded dumbly and the foursome headed to the outskirts of Hogsmeade, where Tonks stood with their Portkey.

"Anything exciting happen today?" she asked.

"Not a thing." grumbled Ron.

"Shocking." said Tonks in mock surprise.

Harry was lost in thought. Colin was unquestionably making a bit of a fool of himself but he was actually making an effort to make his fantasies a reality, not just daydreaming about it like Harry was. Perhaps taking a leaf out of Colin's book wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, Harry thought.

Not the worse idea in the world at all.


End file.
